Small Business Month: Rogers Business President, Tom Turner on the importance of small businesses in our communities

As part of marking Small Business Month in Canada, we sat down with Tom Turner, President, Rogers Business to talk about the importance of small businesses in communities across Canada and how the landscape has evolved over the past few years:

Why is Small Business Month important in Canada?

Tom: Small Businesses are critical to the Canadian economy. Last year, businesses with under 100 employees made up 98% of all employer businesses in Canada and employed over 10 million people. Beyond the impact they have on our economy, small businesses are also the fabric of our communities and make our neighbourhoods unique. It’s important we are supporting them not just in October, but throughout the year.

At Rogers Business one way we’ve been celebrating Canadian small businesses is through our Spotlight Your Business contest where 1,000 owners were gifted $2,500 worth of digital advertising from Rogers Sports and Media to promote their stories and connect with customers in new ways. We know that small businesses are always looking for ways to grow and drive revenue and Advertising is an avenue that is not always accessible them. We also regularly feature businesses on our Rogers Business Blog through the Small Business Spotlight series. It’s been incredible to read their stories.

How have things changed for Small Businesses over the past few years?

Tom: Small businesses have experienced many challenges over the past few years including rising inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain issues, but many were able to pivot in different ways. For example, we’ve seen an increased investment in digital technologies, including smaller companies exploring online options for reaching their customers in ways they might not have considered before. Digitally advanced businesses perform better, grow faster, and adapt to changing environments more effectively, so it’s great to see small and medium businesses embracing different routes for connecting with their customers.

What technologies are you most excited about for empowering the Small Business community in Canada?

Tom: Every year, the products and services we offer the small business community expands. We’re in a place now where we can scale our Enterprise grade technology solutions to work for our small business customers and it’s helping to drive the digital adoption we’re seeing from businesses across the country. For example, running and processing transactions 24/7 used to be something only large Enterprises needed, but in today’s digital economy, small businesses need that same sort of cover. Our Rogers Advantage Wi-Fi, which provides Enterprise based Wi-Fi coverage for small businesses, combined with LTE backup gives our customers the most coverage possible to keep their businesses running.

To add to that, the current and planned upgrades to our network will enable higher speeds than ever before, helping small businesses to thrive. The future is bright for the small business community in Canada, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

And finally, if you were going to open a small business, what would it be?

Tom: I think I would open a speakeasy. Something with real character and mystique where friends could get together and try drinks from around the world.